A Present For Shinichi
by whoamihi
Summary: It's Shinichi's birthday and he ponders his relationship with a cetain weirdo while Nodame surprises him with a special gift... Nodame/Shinchi Fluff


Hello there! This is my very first Nodame fanfic, but not my first fanfiction. I have been meaning to write one for a while now, but I haven't been inspired, until now that is.

So please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Nodame Cantabile

**A Present for Shinichi**

By yurDestini

Chiaki Shinichi wasn't worried. Not in the least. He wasn't pacing back and forth out of restlessness, nearly wearing a hole in his second floor apartment. And his thoughts were most definitely not on a certain ruddy haired hentai who was no where to be seen as it was nearing late evening. No, Shinichi wasn't worried, not at all.

Okay, maybe he was worried a little bit but, he thought as he looked out the window once more to spot her to no avail, he had every right to be.

She had told him earlier that she had to run some errands to run and would be back in time for dinner at six. Shinichi then had reminded her that they had plans for the evening and to hurry up, but of course his words his had fallen on deaf ears as Nodame kissed him on the cheek before scurrying out of his apartment. That had been earlier that afternoon; it was now nearing nine. Shinichi moved away from his place at the window to begin pacing once more, wearing a path in the carpeting.

'_Hmph. With that hentai 'errands' can mean anything. She probably stopped at every café and street vendor on the way there and back.'_

He paused in his incessant pacing as a sudden thought lodged itself into his mind.

'_I hope she didn't forget what today is...'_

Shinichi scowled, shaking his head from the absurdity of his wishful thinking.

'_Of course that hentai forgot…she'd forget her own head if it wasn't screwed on her!'_

He sighed as paused once more in his monotonous pacing. Ever since that girl had come into his life, his orderly, neat world had slowly given away to utter chaos. Four years ago he wouldn't have accepted the extreme sloppiness, the erratic and nearly obsessive tendencies, and excessive tardiness he found in 'that girl'. Of course, from the start he had been entranced by her piano playing, but as time went on he slowly found that he wanted to also get to know the girl behind the music. One could say that Noda Megumi grew on him, but really, the truth was that he grew onto himself and with that came his acceptance of Nodame and all of her quirks.

For so long he had been trapped in his own world of despair due to his not being able to leave Japan, he had forgotten the true beauty, the feelings and emotions that made one's music come alive. When Nodame came (or more like barged her way) into his life, he had come to a startling realization of what had been missing from the music, from his life. Whenever she played, she played whole-heartedly; it didn't matter what song it was or whether every note was played with precise accuracy; every time her fingers caressed those ivory plated keys, she played with every inch of her spirit, her soul, and in turn she brought her music alive in a way few others could replicate. And that didn't just apply to her piano playing, no, everything Noda Megumi did she did with her all; whether it was singing her nonsense songs, watching her Puri Gorota videos or (mostly) eating (and lord knew she did that whole heartedly). She really did live her life to the fullest in every aspect.

The sound of the door being forcefully thrown open snapped Shinichi out of his reverie as Nodame stumbled into his apartment with hordes of shopping bags in tow.

"Myuka! Boy is Nodame glad to be home!" she announced as she stretched languidly, oblivious to the tall figure that now loomed behind her.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Shinichi asked darkly, eyes narrowed. At the sound of his voice Nodame turned around and clamped onto the none-too-happy Shinichi.

"Oh senpai, please forgive this Nodame for her transgression but she has a good reason for being late and making you keep her dinner warm for her!" she exclaimed, eyes wide in their usual childlike fashion and Shinichi felt some of his anger melt away.

"There were so many stores to choose from, Nodame didn't know where to look first and because Nodame hadn't been shopping in a long time she had a lot to get!" She looked down at her feet. "Nodame still didn't get _everything_ she wanted…" she muttered more to herself.

"What do you mean you do mean you didn't get everything you wanted?" he asked skeptically as he eyed the sea of shopping bags that now covered his living room floor. "It looks like you put all of Paris' shops out of business."

"Gyabo, senpai you're so silly" she giggled in that weird way of hers. Shinichi moved towards one of the bags take a peek inside, and his face dropped.

"You didn't just get food, did you?" he asked as he began to search the other bags only to find most of them filled to the brim with various goodies.

"Ehe, I couldn't just past by the café without getting something…"

"Yes, you could have!"

"Well for your information Senpai, I didn't just get food; I got something for you too, but it's a surprise so don't look!" she ordered as she gathered the bags up to put them out of his line of vision. Shinichi noticed that she had left one the living room floor but he didn't think much of it.

"Hmph. Well I guess you're probably hungry from all that walking then."

Just then a deafening rumble that sounded suspiciously like a stomach growling erupted from Nodame's stomach.

"What the hell was that?!" Shinichi exclaimed after jumping up from the explosive sound. As if on cue Nodame slumped over dramatically holding her stomach.

"Oooo Senpai… Nodame doesn't feel good… her stomach is making unhappy sounds…Maybe Nodame shouldn't have eaten so many of those biscuits that lady was giving to the puppy in the pet shop earlier…"

Shinichi blanched.

"You idiot! Of course you're going to feel sick! What were you doing in a pet shop in the first place?"

"Well Nodame was on her way to the café her friend Louis told her about, when she passed by a pet store window and saw a cute puppy that looked just like Shinichi senpai, so Nodame had to go inside to see him and then Nodame thought that maybe she should…oh oops Nodame said too much already…"

Nodame covered her mouth and trailed off at the sound of yipping and tearing coming from the paper shopping bag that she had left on the living room floor. Shinichi froze, his narrowed eyes darting back forth between the moving paper bag and Nodame.

"Nodame, please tell me you didn't…"

With a final rip the bag gave way to a black speckled puppy who had decided to make himself known to his new master. With startling speed the puppy dashed across the room to leap onto Shinichi's chest, knocking the startled man flat on his back. Nodame covered her mouth in order to stifle a small giggle.

"Ehe senpai…surprise?" she giggled sheepishly.

"NODAME!" Shinichi growled angrily, yelping as the puppy began to cover his face with sloppy kisses.

"Oooo, I think he likes you, senpai!" Nodame clapped excitedly, ignoring the death glare he was sending her.

"Would you get this flea ridden beast off of me?!" Shinichi ground out through gritted teeth.

"Gyabo! He doesn't have fleas! Don't you Mr. Puppy, no you don't!" Nodame cooed to the wide eyed, bushy tailed puppy. "Hey senpai, what do you want to name him?"

"Pestilence." Came the all-too-serious reply as he picked himself off of the floor before dusting himself off. He moved across the length of the living room, climbing into the top of his sofa in an effort to get away from the slobbering puppy that yipped at his heels. Nodame became aghast.

"Myuka! You can't name a puppy that, senpai! Think of his future, he'll be taunted by all of the other dogs!" she defended as she walked over to the couch to scoop up the puppy, cradling him in her arms.

"He won't have a future if he stays here."

"How can senpai be so cruel to this poor creature? Just look at him!" she pleaded as she held him up to Shinichi, her face a replica of the puppy's in her hands. She turned the pup around to face her. "Well, Nodame thinks we should name him Shinichi Jr. What do you think of that Mr. Puppy?" Shinchi's left eyebrow began to twitch.

"Jr?" Nodame bit her lip as a contemplative look appeared on her face.

"Well, Nodame _was_ saving that name for her and senpai's first son, but since Shinichi isn't meeting Nodame's womanly needs, a puppy will have to do for now." She said in a matter-of-factly tone. A 'gyabo' was heard as Shinichi hurled a sofa pillow at her head.

"What needs does a hentai like you have?! All you do is eat, watch those Puri Gorota videos and play the piano until you pass out from sheer exhaustion!!" he shouted at her fallen form.

"Au contraire senpai, that's where you are wrong," She wagged her finger at him. "If you knew anything at all about women, then you would know that we all have certain needs that need to be met. But I suppose when we get married senpai will take care of that." she said airily.

Shinichi's only reply was another cushion hurled at Nodame's head.

"Gyabo!"

**--**

"So why did you get the dog in the first place?" Shinichi asked as they were eating the Chicken Alfredo he prepared for their dinner. The puppy, after nearly destroying everything of value in Shinichi's apartment, had managed to wear itself out and was now slumbering away on what was left of his living room couch. Shinichi did not even bat an eye when Nodame began to cram the food in her mouth, causing her cheeks to resemble that of a chipmunk's. Apparently she was still hungry even after her excursion in the pet store.

But he already knew that Nodame was _always _eating, so why was this any surprise?

Nodame paused momentarily in devouring her food to answer, fettuccine hanging out of the corners of her now slightly frowning mouth.

"Myuka senpai, how could you forget what day it is? Surely Nodame isn't as forgetful as you make her out to be; what kind of wife forgets their husband's own birthday?"

He hadn't forgotten, but the truth was he had thought _she_ had.

"Anyway," she continued as she proceeded to shove more food into every available space into her mouth, "I thought senpai needed something to keep him company for when Nodame can't be around and she doesn't want him being lonely in those wee hours of the day."

Shinichi's eyes narrowed.

'_Who said I was lonely? The last time I checked it was this hentai barged her way into my life, not the other way around!'_

"For your information I am just fine being by myself; just because I tolerate _you being _around me doesn't mean I enjoy spending every waking moment in chaos!" he declared, watching in shock as he saw Nodame's face slacken and become pale before she clenched her jaw. "Oh I see… to Senpai I'm someone he just _tolerates." _She replied icily, her voice dangerously quiet. Shinichi, utterly confused by Nodame's sudden mood change, attempted to make sense of the situation.

"Nodame—"

"—No senpai, I understand, I know when I'm not wanted. Excuse me." She said reverting from her usual second person talking style as she suddenly got up from table. Before making her way into the living room to fetch her things however, she turned around to address Shinichi once more.

"Thank you for dinner Shinichi. Good night." She nearly hissed before making her way to the door, slamming it forcefully.

Shinichi stared at the door that Nodame had just gone out of in complete and utter shock. In fact, it took him a few moments to regain coherent thought and when he did they flooded his mind all at once.

What had just happened? Why had Nodame's mood changed all of a sudden? And even more disturbing; why had she thanked him for dinner? That hentai _never_ thanked him when he made her meals; she always nosed dived into the food before she could utter one word of gratitude.

As Shinichi pondered the situation even more, he came to a startling realization.

'Oh…I hope she didn't think I meant that…' he sighed as he ran a hand through his unruly hair before resting his forehead on his palm, shaking his head at the ridiculous thought. Of course she probably thought he meant that. That idiot, how many times did he have to show her to make her realize how he truly felt? He got up from his chair to fetch his jacket.

If showing her wasn't going to work, then he was going to have to take a different approach.

Nodame walked at a hurried pace, fighting the onslaught of tears that threatened to overtake her. Even so, despite her efforts, a few tears managed to escape and began to slide down her face.

What was she? In the grand scheme of things, what was she in relation to Chiaki Shinichi? A friend? A lover? A confidant? Someone that was just there; no more, no less?

Well, she was tired of guessing. She slowed her pace as she approached a park and made her way over to a nearby empty bench.

All she wanted was for him to love her as she did him, but she was coming to realize that perhaps Shinichi just didn't care for her that way or couldn't. He never showed that he might have feelings her; he barely even acknowledged her existence most times. The only times he did were when she was playing piano or when he was yelling at her for her laziness, clumsiness or whichever of her faults she was exhibiting at the time. And for the exception of the necklace he had gotten her which he had claimed at the time that he had only gotten it because it appeared that she didn't have much jewelry to begin with and needed something nice to wear at recitals and performances) he almost never gave her gifts or tokens of his appreciation. Not that she was a finicky girl, not at all; but she did sometimes want to feel that he appreciated her.

Although she had thought that he had some feelings for her when he had kissed her back then after her first salon concert, after then things had just gone back to the way they had been before, leaving Nodame confused and frustrated. She had always known that Shinichi wasn't a very openly affectionate man, but one could only get by with an occasional hug for so long. Despite the fact that Nodame was an extremely clumsy, slightly neurotic, scatterbrained slob, she was still a woman who had physical as well as emotional needs. She needed, _wanted_, to be held, to be kissed, to be loved.

Now that she had thought about it, she realized that what their relationship had been built on was shaky, at best. They hardly ever saw each other; he was always working and she had her schooling. And she couldn't just pop by and say hello whenever she felt like it because he had moved out of their apartment complex six months ago and his new apartment wasn't exactly in the same neighborhood.

She sighed.

She didn't know what she was going to do, but she knew she couldn't continue to stay in a one-sided relationship, keep giving untill she had nothing left to give, even if it meant leaving Chiaki Shinichi, the man she loved.

As she continued to drown in her heavy thoughts, she could have sworn that she heard someone calling her name.

'_Great, now Nodame's going crazy and hearing voices too.'_

But as she continued to beat her self up even more, the so called voice began to get louder and come closer. And it sounded awfully familiar too…

"Nodame!" the masculine voice called once more as she turned around to see a man with a familiar unruly head of hair make his way over to the bench she was sitting on.

Nodame's countenance went stony as she looked upon the quickly approaching form of the one person she did not want to see right then.

"Nodame…I've been…looking all over…for you." Shinichi panted out of breath from running.

Nodame turned away as he approached the bench searching for the words he wanted to say.

"Nodame…I—"

"—Why are you here, Senpai?" she cut him off. She turned to look him in the eyes. "I don't want you burden yourself anymore than you have to by coming after me."

At Nodame's words, something inside of Shinichi snapped, and he found himself yanking Nodame up from the bench in order to give her a piece of his mind.

"You baka! You are no burden to me nor is coming out here to look for you to ease my own mind one also!" he shouted, his hands gripping her shoulders tightly

Nodame blinked owlishly at him as her retort died right on her tongue. She soon recovered from her shock and began to shout at him.

"Liar! You said it yourself that you only tolerated me! And it's not just that! You're always insulting me, every thing I do gets ignored, and on top of that Nodame doesn't know what to do with you most of the time because you're so damn aloof!" she nearly screamed at him, knocking his hands away from her.

Shinichi was taken aback. He had never witnessed this much animosity toward him from Nodame before, not even when she had yelled at him back at the music academy in Tokyo. He had known that Nodame was upset by what he had said to her earlier but he had no idea she had been harboring this much anger towards him.

She sighed and Shinichi watched as he saw her all consuming anger slowly begin to fade away, the light in her eyes dimming as it gave way to a sadness so deep it surrounded her in a impenetrable fog. When she met his unwavering gaze once more, he could see the unmistakable sheen of tears.

"What is this, senpai?" she wearily asked him. "What is this—what are we?" Shinichi's eyes widened at her loaded question, not expecting it at all. He had known for a while was she was to him, but had not divulged this detail Nodame. But now she had given him a perfect opportunity to say what needed to be said about his feelings for her, however, something in Shinichi wouldn't let him.

"You baka." He said instead, hiding his feelings behind the chastising words.

But instead of brushing off his words as usual, she immediately flared up.

"I may be clumsy, scatterbrained, and lazy; but I am _no idiot_!!" she screamed at him.

"You must be if you can't tell." He replied calmly, while on the inside he was anything but.

Nodame clenched her fists, her body quivering with rage.

"Grrr…! What is there to tell?! I already know how you feel about me so why don't you leave me here to suffer alone with my own thoughts?!" she hissed, angry tears spilling forth from her eyes, before she turned on her heel to get away from him. Shinichi's eyes narrowed.

'_You insufferable idiot of a woman!'_

He easily caught up to Nodame and seized her by the arm before promptly turning her around to meet his blazing eyes.

"_Baka_…!" he growled as he pulled her toward him.

Nodame opened her mouth to yell at him once more but was silenced as Shinichi mouth descended on hers for a heated kiss. Shocked, Nodame stood frozen, her eyes as big as saucers as Shinichi continued to kiss her. However, she soon recovered and melted into the kiss, cradling the back of his neck with one hand as the other hand rested itself on his broad shoulder. As his lips traced hers in their heated embrace, she could feel her heart beginning to soar in complete elation.

For so long she had wanted to be like this with Shinichi, locked in his embrace with him kissing her senseless, to point were all coherent thought was virtually impossible. And now it was finally happening. She had to admit; that one kiss they had shared all those months ago was nothing compared to this.

But, she thought, what did this mean? Could he really have those kinds of feelings for her? Or was it all just a guise?

Shinichi soon broke away, ending the kiss, as he rested his head on her forehead.

"What must I do to show you how I feel?" he whispered brushing the back of his hand across her cheek; an action Nodame found to be shockingly intimate. "I cook for you, I clean for you, I do your laundry, I make sure you are not burning your apartment down by calling you when I'm at work. Why would I do these things for someone I didn't care about? You don't see me going over to Tanya or Frank's apartment to cook and clean for them."

"But," Nodame sniffed as unsettling thoughts began to creep upon her once more. "That's the problem. To Nodame it feels almost as if senpai is my parent." At this Shinichi smirked.

"Would a parent do this?" he asked before he gave Nodame another kiss that nearly swept her off of her feet. He pulled away once more, his smirk still fully intact, leaving Nodame stupefied.

"Ehe, no I guess not…" she said sheepishly, her eyes dazed. Shinichi pulled her into his arms, his chin resting on top of her head.

"You idiot; you should know by now that I don't put up with your nonsense for no reason." He chastised her teasingly, with a playful glint in his eyes. But his eyes soon became serious once more as he continued to speak.

"I'm sorry if I've hurt by not telling you as much as I should have, but I want you to know that I do care for you, along with all of your weirdness." At this Nodame smiled. She knew Shinichi was a man of very few words when it came to his emotions and how he felt; his actions spoke louder than his words. As much as she would have liked to have him say those three little words that she wanted so desperately to hear, she was content knowing he did love her, even if he had never spoken the words.

Shinichi himself was inwardly struggling with his feelings for this girl, woman really, who had captured his heart. Those three life changing words had been on the tip of his tongue and frankly, Shinichi had no idea why he hadn't said them. But, as he looked into Nodame's shinning russet eyes, he realized that no words were needed to show one another how they truly felt.

'_I love you…_

Just then, a loud clap of thunder jolted Nodame and Shinichi back into reality. Shinichi reluctantly removed himself from the comfort of Nodame's arms and began to lead them back in the direction of his apartment. He remembered from the day's forecast that there were supposed to be severe thunderstorms later on in the evening; and he didn't want be away from home when it happened.

"Come on Nodame," he commanded as he pulled her along at a hurried pace. "Let's go before it starts to rain."

"Aright." Nodame replied as he led back to his apartment, knowing that for now, things between them were as they should be. As she glanced up to look upon on the man who cared for her, _loved _her, she couldn't help but smile.

**--**

They barely managed to make it back apartment before the storm had struck. As it was they both completely soaked from the pouring rain.

Shinichi sighed as he looked at Nodame shivering form. He would have to find her something for her change into.

'_And,' _he thought as looked out his window to see that the storm was not letting up. _'I cant let Nodame go home in this kind of weather…" _He looked at the person of his thoughts to see that she was still shivering

"Oi, go get out of those wet clothes." He commanded. At his words she instantly stopped shivering and her mouth dropped, but she soon recovered from her shock as a coy grin grew on her face.

"Ano senpai, Nodame had no idea you were so eager to get me out of my clothes…"

"Stop thinking those hentai thoughts of yours and go change!" he yelled, his eyebrow twitching. Would that hentai _ever_ learn?!

Nodame pouted, but obliged him as she went off towards his room, but not before grabbing something from one of her bags.

Shinichi collapsed onto his sofa, utterly exhausted from the days events. Unfortunately, this action inadvertently woke up the slumbering puppy that had resting on the sofa. It sprang up before launching itself into his arms, yipping excitedly as it covered Shinichi with puppy kisses.

"Oi, get away…off of me…get off of me!" he yelped as he struggled to get the wriggling puppy off of him. The puppy eventually stopped showing his affection for his owner and settled itself happily into Shinichi's lap. Shinichi, surprisingly, made no attempt to move the creature away and hesitantly began to pet the pup.

He didn't really have anything against animals or pets, just against the messes that they made. And with his neat freak streak as big as it was, having little uh-ohs around the house just did not sit well with him. And speaking of uh-ohs…"

"Ack!" he yelped as held a leaking puppy away from him and his couch. Apparently all the excitement had gone straight to the pup's bladder.

"_Baka inu!"_ he growled as he cautiously put down the pup in order to retrieve a towel to clean up the mess on the floor. As he began to clean the mess he began thinking up of ways to rid the world of a certain ruddy haired girl who brought nothing but pain and suffering into his life.

As soon as the mess was cleaned up, he proceeded to his kitchen to fetch himself a glass of wine, feeling that he needed something to calm his nerves.

After getting the glass he turned to return to the living room only to find the dog waiting for him, wagging his tail happily.

"What do you want?" he growled angrily as he made his way to the sofa before sitting down. The puppy merely proceeded to approach him before hopping onto his lap once more. There the pup let out a jaw cracking yawn before snuggling into his chest, sighing happily. As much Shinichi hated to admit it, he found himself thinking that the puppy's actions were actually kind of …cute.

Not that he would ever admit that out loud, of course.

'_Shinichi Jr, eh? _He thought as looked upon the now slumbering puppy. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to have some one else around the house.

"Aww, I see Senpai and the baby are getting along just fine…" He hadn't noticed Nodame walk in. He looked up to see Nodame dressed in one of his robes, as it was too big for her and sagged off of her lithe form. However seeing her in it stirred something deep inside of him, which left him feeling slightly unsettled. She sat down next to him and began to lightly scratch behind the pups ear, causing one of it's legs to twitch in response. Snuggling closer to Shinichi, she sighed softly.

"Thank you," Shinichi said suddenly. Nodame met his eyes in confusion.

"Why?" she asked. He sighed as well, but in exasperation.

"For remembering my birthday." He looked down at the slightly snoring pup in his lap. "And for the…dog"

"Oh, that's all? It was nothing, just a little token of Nodame's appreciation for senpai." She said waving it away before looking away from his suddenly intense gaze.

"Nodame," he said, taking a hold of her chin his hand so her eyes meet his once more. "I meant every word that I said earlier, so don't forget it."

She meet his intense gaze with a smile.

"I know." She whispered as their faces began to get closer.

Once again their lips met in another kiss, though not as desperate as the ones back in the park. Instead it was as sweet as it was gentle, as it was meant to assure one another of their feelings.

When they pulled away, Shinichi could see a wistful smile upon her face and couldn't stop himself from smiling also.

"You know," she began as she lazily began to trace patterns with her finger on his chest. "The puppy wasn't your only birthday present."

"Really."-

"Yep, but you have to close your eyes first." She commanded as she stood up.

"No."

"Oh come on senpai!"

Shinichi muttered some unpleasant things under his breath before proceeding to close his eyes. He soon heard the rustling of clothes and the sound of something falling to the floor.

'_Oh god, I hope she isn't…'_

"No peeking!" she called out cheerfully.

'_Damn.'_

After what seemed like an eternity she told him to open his eyes.

Needless to say all coherent thought flew out of his head at the sight that met his eyes.

Wrapped up in a lacy, form fitting negligee was Nodame, who was unknowingly standing in a somewhat seductive pose, with one hand one waist and her weight shifted to one leg so her feminine curves were more pronounced. Shinichi's jaw dropped. This had not been what he had expected at all.

'_My god… is she even wearing a…no! Do not finish that thought! Oh god, not now!'_

Nodame seeing his slackened face began to grow nervous.

"Well, if senpai doesn't like it, Nodame will take it back…the lady at the store did say that I could--"

Nodame did not get to finish her sentence before she was promptly silenced by Shinichi's lips on hers.

As he continued to see Nodame in that _very_ revealing outfit, he was suddenly overcome with a strong desire to touch her, to kiss her, to love her. As he kissed her Nodame none to eagerly kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck to draw him closer.

"I guess this means that senpai likes his present?" she asked when they broke apart.

He merely grunted in reply before suddenly picking her up, causing Nodame to squeal.

"Yes." He whispered huskily to her with darkened eyes before proceeding in the direction of his bedroom.

"Ooo, I love it when you're proactive senpai." She purred as he carried her to his room before shutting the door behind them.

All in all, it had indeed been a _very_ good birthday.

_Fin_


End file.
